


Guide to writing Steven's pink power

by NonaWax



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Guide to writing, Writing, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:01:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23624287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NonaWax/pseuds/NonaWax
Summary: A guide to writing Steven's pink power because it's hard to tell where the line is and what exactly causes it. A few details were news to me awhile back, like the differences between the ways the glow spreads.There are also two chapters with short analyses of all his pink moments in the series.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

Growing Pains implies that Steven goes pink when his stress in the moment reaches levels equivalent to his life being in danger .  
  
More specifically, Steven goes pink when his subconscious rules out every other option and he feels something bad is going to happen if no action is taken. In this way, multiple different feelings can align for this to be reached. I can imagine three ways he goes pink:

  1. Steven feels threatened and helpless (at least without the pink power) against said threat.
  2. Steven feels threatened and resolves to fight it out.
  3. Steven feels that going pink is the only option - emphasis on "feels."



His stress response generally involves him becoming defensive and refusing to think on things further.

As for the minimum that would count as a threat, it seems to be anything that would, were it not for his stress response, otherwise cause him to spiral into tears (even a little bit since he's strangely afraid of crying) or self-depreciation as he does when everyone corners him in Everything's Fine. Notably, not wanting to express his anger can also count as a threat to him, though it happens less often. He can also feel helpless in the sense that nothing he says is getting through to anyone (like in Homeworld Bound with Yellow.)

It's an on or off thing, requiring a do or “die” situation, rather than Steven needing to worry about faint or partial glowing or continuing to sort-of glow for a time. The glow itself isn't dangerous and must be something more like a threat, and a glow threatening to take over is like a threat to make a threat which is weird. Even in the case that the glow isn't meant to be a threat and is instead a result of his power buffing him, the buff would be useless if Steven was only glowing in a specific area, and though gem powers can mess things up they certainly don't do useless; they're always playing to some goal or can be useful in an action-based scenario. He can restrain his power without the glow fading as well, as we see in Bluebird amongst other places. He flung Jasper through almost a dozen trees, yet Eyeball didn't even make a crater in the sand when he rushed at her. If something is bothering him enough to go pink, he'll be stuck in full pink like in Everything's Fine.

The glow tends to start from different places depending on the situation. Whenever Steven perceived the front most problem to be himself it would start from the cheeks, when it was just a power issue (with Smokey Quartz in Guidance) it started from the gem, and it was an even glow when the problem was external. It started from the cheeks when Jasper was hitting home in Little Homeschool and when Cactus Steven was making a fool of him in Prickly Pair (notably after even-glowing appearances.)

The various things that happen when Steven is pink are tied to their own feelings as well.

The barriers seem to be just thoughts of a barrier or a feeling a situation could use one.

The explosive yelling seems happen whenever he raises his voice, which tends to happen whenever he wants to emphasize something.

The super speed happens when he wants to flee/leave.

The inverted floating happens when hes sad.

The super strength seems to correlate with how intense the emotions are/how "into it" Steven is at the time. The coordination used to split logs cleanly in half seems unrelated.

The exploding (in Together Forever) happens whenever he feels he's been forced to give up. In Together Forever it's like a "that's it, I've messed up, I'm alone now," even if he couldn't put words to these feelings at the time. Mostly my interpretation, seems likely as a real last resort in an action-based situation.

The Steven in Fragments is a combination of how he felt (strong) and swelling. The diamond eyes came out from feeling like a diamond.

The swelling likely happens whenever he feels cornered. It has been compared to animals making themselves appear larger in order to be intimidating. Certain parts of him swell in reaction to the most relevant objects/entities (his phone, and with it being an intimidation tactic in mind, his face being the only thing Connie could see during the phone call.) It's usually the left side of his face that swells, with the right side only swelling once in Everything's Fine. The left swelling seems to be more of a vague and automatic response, whereas Steven was blatantly cornered in Everything's Fine and had a reaction before the swelling actually occurred. 

Steven also either has the ability to home in on targets (increasing gravity towards them, potentially) or straight up fly. It seems like he only gains momentum in air when he has a target and a great desire to close the distance between them. Notably, when pink Steven in Change Your Mind began to move while hovering he was heading straight towards his other half.

It’s notable that in Fragments, he wasn’t able to go pink when he wanted to smash a rock like Jasper did because he didn’t see the rock as a threat.  
He also doesn’t stay pink while he’s running away in Homeworld Bound because he doesn’t feel primarily stressed or completely helpless; he’s scared of what he’s just done and doesn’t want to face it (while swelling, at least,) so he runs, which is something he can do without the pink power. Then, he goes an evenly spread pink when he tells Spinel not to give him his own advice, perhaps realizing that there really isn't anyone else who can help him; the diamonds were his last resort, after all.

Self-depreciative thoughts stemming entirely from him that are also stressing enough to make him go pink don't seem particularly common (at least in the episodes we see.) It is still pretty probable that it could happen post: I Am My Monster, though.  
  
Thanks for reading!


	2. Episodes 1-10

Little Homeschool

Jasper has Steven's whole character pegged. Steven thinks that him needing help is a bad thing and doesn't want to believe what Jasper says. The front most problem is perceived to be him and Jasper made him feel helpless/pitiful, so it spreads from the cheeks. He then claims he is  _ not _ pitiful. 

Guidance

Smokey Quartz compares Steven's great achievements (that he went through so much for) with being unable to do something that should be way simpler, which is a painful feeling. This is what motivates them alongside not wanting anyone to get hurt. The glow starts from the gem, as they were simply not powerful enough to save the rollercoaster without it.

Rosebuds 

Steven did not go pink in this episode, but this is notable. He was clearly uncomfortable, but not enough that he would be brought to tears, anger, or self-depreciation. He probably didn't feel very helpless, as he's the one who kept pushing for the Rosebuds to stay longer in order to make a good impression on them or prove to himself that he could handle this.

Volleyball

Steven goes pink at any mention of his mom. He feels threatened because he doesn't want to hear any more bad things about her and helpless because he can't deny that she did those things. Of course, he has a lot of trauma relating to the things his mom did. It may also be possible he thought he was finally done with all of that, with the movie's song in mind.

Bluebird

Both of Bluebird's components have dragged Steven out to space, so he has trauma relating to both of them. They "hurt" his dad and made a fool of him multiple times throughout the episode; he just wants to get it over with now. Generally he only made moves to push them off his territory.

Little Graduation

He's losing his support systems, as Dr. Maheswaran says. Aside from everything changing without him, he's also getting left behind and forgotten. He feels threatened and helpless as there's nothing to really do about this situation. Later, this causes him to feel the pressure to move on like everyone else so he doesn't feel as left behind. 

Prickly Pair

Steven still can't control his own creation, and it makes a fool out of him. Since the glow spreads from his cheeks, we can say he pities himself in this moment (threatened and helpless against his own thoughts) and nothing he says gets through to the cactus. It also fades very quickly when Pearl distracts him from his thoughts/the conflict. This is the last time we know it spreads like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me if I need to add anything or elaborate more on stuff.


	3. Episodes 11-18

In Dreams

Steven goes pink in a dream and apparently outside of it too according to Peridot. She orders the events weirdly and we don't know for sure how the glow spread. It was likely even spread around the same time he goes pink in the dream, as he loses control of his dream and is afraid of going pink.

Together Forever

Steven manages to stave off going pink until Connie leaves. Then he can't run away from all the feelings that flood him at that moment. He gives up before he's okay with giving up and explodes, then laying there until after sunset. It's like a "that's it, I've messed up, I'm alone now," even if he couldn't put words to these feelings at the time, as said before.

Growing Pains

Steven does want to talk his feelings out, but with someone in person. Until then he wants to avoid his thoughts, which he can't do when he keeps being reminded of Connie. Since he can't run away, fight, or shield himself from the problem, he feels cornered. 

The areas that grow aren't completely random; they seem to react to the most relevant physical objects/entities, or he plainly gets bigger. His fist grows when he realizes letting it go to voicemail isn't much of an option (she just came over last time he avoided her,) his face grows when he knows he's not going to play off the glowing thing like its fine, the other half of his face grows when he realizes the conversation is definitely going towards his problems, and the rest of his body follows when he has to tell Connie that he's alone.

In the hospital, Steven is in an unfamiliar place with no choice but to let the mother of someone he just proposed to poke and prod him. When his neck grows, it's in retaliation against the stadiometer touching him; the rest of his powers during the checkup should be self-explanatory at this point.

After the checkup, Steven is fighting the swelling by trying to shrink. He appears to lose the ability to fight it after Connie tells her mom that they're making it worse.

Mr. Universe

Steven couldn't _help_ but feel betrayed. He also couldn't run from the situation. It's pretty safe to say he thought his Dad was really amazing before then, which is all too much of a parallel to his mom.

Fragments

It seems like Steven's been comparing himself to his mom before he enters the house.

Pearl calls them "outbursts" and Steven felt like he was being compared to his mom and all her outbursts. Either that, or his emotions are belittled by the term.

Steven stops glowing when he vocally decides to leave the situation, probably because he thought they'd let him and he didn't feel helpless as a result.

Steven goes pink denying that he's avoiding the conversation, likely because he's comparing himself to his mom again. It's probably denial (of the situation) that gets him to stop glowing here. But the gems corner him, so he goes pink again and leaves with super speed.

Steven tries to channel his anger into fighting and can barely crack one tree (as opposed to blowing through many with one punch in the first episode) because going pink is more complicated than that.

From then on, Steven goes pink with a resolve to fight. 

Steven is not pink as he brings Jasper home because his emotions and thoughts are blurred out by determination. He's not in a rush, either because he's not thinking much during the rush home (it'd all be a blur) or because some part of him is afraid to find out whether or not this will work.

Homeworld Bound

Steven resolves to block the gems out.

Steven goes pink after Spinel kisses him for a few reasons. He has a lot on his mind and hasn't taken a moment to himself since he shattered Jasper. Spinel startled him, and the last time he saw Spinel she caused him a lot of stress; he also swells a little, if only for a moment, because he wants Spinel to stay out of his space.

Steven is frustrated that he can't get what he's trying to say through to Yellow. There's likely also some identity stuff from the past involved with how he yells that he just wants to be himself. Notably, he manages to divert the explosive yelling power by emphasizing with a stomp instead.

After Blue's song, Steven goes pink when he thinks about how he feels and realizes this isn't fixing the problem.

After thinking about shattering white, Steven goes pink and swells the same way he did with Connie when he's asked to explain what just happened. He decides to run, which is something he can do without the pink power. He doesn't feel primarily stressed or helpless, as he's mostly afraid of what he's just done.

After Spinel gives him his own advice, he realizes there's no one left to help him. The way he swells here is odd. It's a stretch, but maybe his left eye swells because his gem wants to see a solution and his right cheek swells because he ought to shut up and listen? Maybe he just feels stupid, and that's the way he swells, or he's never swelled only his whole head at once (always the left half or his entire body.)

He returns to the form he made in Fragments while running away. Because this happens after he thinks about shattering white, considering the diamond eyes it's likely that part of him is acknowledging his development. It's likely also still partially a swelling issue.

Everything's Fine

He's stuck in pink and fighting off a meltdown with a mania. His powers are especially wound up. He swells when the gems corner him. It's the right side of his face that swells this time around. The left swelling is usually a more automatic or vague response, but Steven is blatantly cornered here and has a different reaction to it before the swelling actually occurs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to keep my analyses short for the reader's sake, but I worry that in doing so it seems lackluster. Feedback is appreciated.


End file.
